Deaths from drug overdose in Maine hit all-time record

News in brief: No construction on bridge over Androscoggin until 2019

The Frank J. Wood Bridge—the green bridge over the Androscoggin River that connects Brunswick and Topsham—will not undergo construction until at least 2019. The Maine Department of Transportation (MDOT) will be investigating several alternative project options first to ensure compliance with the National Historic Preservation Act, the Times Record reported last Friday.
An inspection on the bridge last summer found “rapid deterioration of structural steel,” and the bridge was downgraded from “fair” to “poor” condition in August. The bridge currently has a 25-ton limit, which means heavy commercial trucks are barred from driving on it.
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is still looking into the effects of different project options on the surrounding historic properties. In a draft report released on February 2, the FHWA outlined five options for the bridge—two that called for its rehabilitation and three that suggested constructing a new bridge. The options will be evaluated based on several factors, including environmental impact, ease of construction, impact on traffic and cost.
Additionally, the FHWA will be considering the impact of the bridge project on historic properties, even though the report found the bridge itself does not qualify as a historic landmark, as some community members had suggested in the past.
“The Frank J. Wood Bridge … does not represent emerging technology, nor is its construction associated with a significant event or person,” the report said.
However, several properties on both sides of the river are eligible for the National Historic Register, which means that the FHWA must consider the impact of the bridge project on these surroundings.
The FHWA is accepting public comments on the report until March 6.

News in brief: Middlebury students protest white nationalist speaker

Administrators at Middlebury College were forced to cancel a public lecture by Dr. Charles Murray, a political scientist and fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, due to overwhelming protest by students before the event began. Students chanted and waved signs expressing that Murray’s beliefs—which they perceived to be white supremacist—did not deserve a platform on Middlebury’s campus. Instead, Middlebury opted to livestream a conversation between Murray and Professor of International Politics and Economics Allison Stanger, which took place in a private location.
Murray had been invited by the school’s American Enterprise Club, and the lecture was co-sponsored by the political science department.
In the weeks leading up to the lecture, a number of Middlebury students, faculty and alumni expressed concerns about Murray’s beliefs. The Southern Poverty Law Center identifies Murray as a white nationalist. Murray coauthored a 1994 book titled “The Bell Curve,” which suggests that IQ differences are partially genetic and are responsible for racial inequality.
More than 600 students and faculty signed a letter to Middlebury President Laurie Patton condemning Murray’s invitation and Patton’s decision to give introductory remarks, according to the Vermont Digger. Additionally, over 450 Middlebury alumni signed a letter published in the Middlebury Campus condemning Murray’s invitation.
“This is not an issue of freedom of speech,” they wrote. “We think it is necessary to allow a diverse range of perspectives to be voiced at Middlebury … However, in this case we find the principle does not apply, due to not only the nature, but also the quality, of Dr. Murray’s scholarship. He paints arguments for the biological and intellectual superiority of white men with a thin veneer of quantitative rhetoric and academic authority.”

News in brief

Deaths from drug overdose in Maine hit all-time record

February 24, 2017

Three hundred seventy-eight deaths due to drug overdose were confirmed in the state of Maine in 2016, an all-time high and a 39 percent increase from 2015, which previously held the record, according to a release by the state Attorney General’s Office on February 2.

Opioid drugs were responsible for the majority of deaths. One hundred twenty-three deaths were attributed to heroin or morphine and 195 were attributed to non-pharmaceutical fentanyl, according to data from the University of Maine-Orono. While heroin deaths only increased by 15 percent since 2015, fentanyl deaths increased by 127 percent in 2016. Fentanyl is a schedule-II prescription drug that is between 50 and 100 times more powerful than morphine, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Last Thursday, the Maine State Legislature voted unanimously to create a task force to address the opioid crisis. The panel is expected to come up with recommendations for the legislature by April 30.

Harriet Fisher ’17 spent last summer mapping arrests in Maine as part of the Gibbons Summer Research Program. She found that many arrests across the state were due to possession, trafficking or consumption of opioids.

“[The opioid epidemic] is so omnipresent in Maine,” Fisher said. “I realized it cut across so many different demographics in Maine. You can see in the maps that it is really is all over the state, but … it isn’t something you see a lot at Bowdoin.”

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